Author: Kate Quinn
Published: July 9, 2024 by William Morrow
Format: Kindle, Harcover 432 Pages
Genre: Historical Thriller
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
First Sentence: Prologue: thanksgiving 1954, Washington, DC. If these walls could talk. Well, they may not be talking, but they are certainly listening. And watching.
Blurb: Washington, D.C., 1950. Everyone keeps to themselves at Briarwood House, a down-at-the-heels all-female boardinghouse in the heart of the nation’s capital, where secrets hide behind white picket fences. But when the lovely, mysterious widow Grace March moves into the attic, she draws her oddball collection of neighbors into unlikely friendship: poised English beauty Fliss whose facade of perfect wife and mother covers gaping inner wounds; police officer’s daughter Nora, who is entangled with a shadowy gangster; frustrated baseball star Bea, whose career has ended along with the women’s baseball league of WWII; and poisonous, gung-ho Arlene, who has thrown herself into McCarthy’s Red Scare.
Grace’s weekly attic-room dinner parties and window-brewed sun tea become a healing balm on all their lives, but she hides a terrible secret of her own. When a shocking act of violence tears apart the house, the Briar Club women must decide once and for all: Who is the true enemy in their midst?
My Opinion: I didn’t make it very far in this book. At the 12% mark, I was bored out of my mind. I switched to the audiobook, hoping it would be more engaging, but I fell asleep while listening.
Having loved The Alice Network, The Diamond Eye, and The Phoenix Crown, I expected much more from this book. The previous novels captivated me with their rich historical details and compelling characters. Unfortunately, this book didn’t deliver the same level of enjoyment or engagement. The pacing felt slow, and I struggled to connect with the story and its characters.
Overall, it was a disappointing experience, especially given my previous positive experiences with Kate Quinn’s work.
Blurb: Washington, D.C., 1950. Everyone keeps to themselves at Briarwood House, a down-at-the-heels all-female boardinghouse in the heart of the nation’s capital, where secrets hide behind white picket fences. But when the lovely, mysterious widow Grace March moves into the attic, she draws her oddball collection of neighbors into unlikely friendship: poised English beauty Fliss whose facade of perfect wife and mother covers gaping inner wounds; police officer’s daughter Nora, who is entangled with a shadowy gangster; frustrated baseball star Bea, whose career has ended along with the women’s baseball league of WWII; and poisonous, gung-ho Arlene, who has thrown herself into McCarthy’s Red Scare.
Grace’s weekly attic-room dinner parties and window-brewed sun tea become a healing balm on all their lives, but she hides a terrible secret of her own. When a shocking act of violence tears apart the house, the Briar Club women must decide once and for all: Who is the true enemy in their midst?
My Opinion: I didn’t make it very far in this book. At the 12% mark, I was bored out of my mind. I switched to the audiobook, hoping it would be more engaging, but I fell asleep while listening.
Having loved The Alice Network, The Diamond Eye, and The Phoenix Crown, I expected much more from this book. The previous novels captivated me with their rich historical details and compelling characters. Unfortunately, this book didn’t deliver the same level of enjoyment or engagement. The pacing felt slow, and I struggled to connect with the story and its characters.
Overall, it was a disappointing experience, especially given my previous positive experiences with Kate Quinn’s work.
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